


The soft embrace of winter white

by Beleriandings



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Akayona Secret Santa, Found Family, Gen, Winter, mythological/fairytale elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 06:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13141260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: Again came the pale flash outside the cave mouth, and this time Kija caught his breath; it had a shape.And its shape was, unmistakably, that of a person. He had only seen it for a moment, but he didn’t think he could have mistaken it; a pale figure, dressed in white.





	The soft embrace of winter white

**Author's Note:**

> My Akayona Secret Santa gift for akagi--mako on tumblr! They asked for something with no manga spoilers and you said their faves are Kija, Yoon and Shin-ah, so I tried to get all of those characters in!! Beyond that, I hope you enjoy this wintery story about found family… since Kouka is essentially fantasy medieval Korea, I borrowed the fairytail-ish elements in this from Korean mythology (see the end of the fic for some notes - I did tweak this a bit to suit the story) and it turned into a slightly spookier piece than I had anticipated, so I hope you’re okay with that! (It all works out happy in the end though so don’t worry <3)

It was midwinter, and it had grown dark early. They had stopped in a cave for that night, their little group of strange travellers; it was too cold to sleep under the stars, even with their tents, with the snow beginning to whisper down all around. At least here they could keep the fire burning all night, even while they slept.

It was Kija who had stayed awake to watch. These lands were too sparsely populated, far from any major settlements for even bandits to bother to attempt the passage though the steep wooden valley in winter, the only inhabitants for miles and miles around the creatures of the forest. So Kija knew he could sleep if he wanted - the others had said as much - but he found he liked to watch over them, letting them sleep all around him.

Zeno had been watching with him, for a while, but now Kija realised that even his smallest brother had fallen asleep. He smiled gently as he tucked Zeno’s blanket more closely around him; Zeno was a strange one, and Kija still didn’t really understand him, new as he was to their little group of travellers. But even so, Kija got the feeling that, young as Zeno was, he had been alone for a long time.

 _Let him sleep now_ , Kija thought. _Let them all sleep_. Around him, he could hear the gentle rise and falls of their breathing; Jae-ha murmured something as he turned over in his sleep, face relaxed and unguarded for once. He looked younger that way, Kija thought. They all did.

He was just thinking this, when something caught his attention, a darting glimpse at the corner of his vision. He turned his head to the direction it had come from and frowned; that had come from the cave mouth, surely. Because of the bend of the tunnel, he could only see a small sliver of the snowy-blue evening dark outside, but he was sure he had seen _something_ there.

He shook his head and blinked; he must have imagined it. Maybe he really was more tired than he had thought.

He was about to turn back to the others - perhaps he should sleep just a little, he thought - when the flash of something pale came again. He frowned; this time he was _sure_ he hadn’t imagined it.

Probably only a trick of the snowstorm, thought Kija, listening to the quiet sound of the wind outside echoing strangely in the cave. He could feel a little of a cold draft from outside too, could see it stirring the flames of the dying fire. He shivered, stirring the ashes with a stick to make them glow and spit sparks a little way into the air.

Again came the pale flash outside the cave mouth, and this time Kija caught his breath; it had a shape.

And its shape was, unmistakably, that of a person. He had only seen it for a moment, but he didn’t think he could have mistaken it; a pale figure, dressed in white.

Whoever it was, they must be cold out there in the snow. Kija shivered just thinking about it, drawing in a little closer to the fire as the flash of pale white came again. This time, though, he could see more.

And what he saw took his breath away, all over again.

A figure dressed in a simple white dress, far too light for winter, feet bare. A young woman; he couldn't see her face, but he could see her hair, a long sweeping curtain of it, drawn out by the wind.

It was white as winter snow; white as his own hair, in fact.

Kija frowned, turning around and getting to his feet. Surely the only people in the whole of Kouka with such white hair were his own people, those with the blood of the white dragon in their veins, though why one of those should be here, Kija had no idea.

Still, if he had been right in what he had seen, then he knew one thing; there was a young woman outside that was of his own blood. Even if she wasn’t though - even if it had only been some trick of the light - then she was still alone out in the cold. Either way, he knew, he was duty bound to help her.

As he was thinking this, he realised he was already getting to his feet, throwing his cloak around his shoulders as quietly as he could, and stepping out of the cave into the night.

Outside the wind had dropped, and the flakes of snow were falling fat and feathery, from the clouded sky. But it was absolute dark out there; Kija’s eyes couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him, and even that was only by virtue of the soft orange glow of firelight filtering from the rocky cave passage behind. After a moment’s hesitation, he went back and picked a torch from their stockpile, lighting it from the dying fire, and went out again.

Now, he could see a little further. Enough at least to keep him from slipping on the treacherous rocks that tumbled down into the wooded gully. The stream that cut through the rocky channel would normally be a fast-rushing torrent, but now it was frozen over, blanketed in soft snow that disguised the fearful fall down to the valley floor far below. On either side, tall evergreen trees hung their snow-weighted branches over all.

It was not a good place for a young lady to be all alone, Kija thought, worried once more. Nor anyone, for that matter. Resolved to follow the person he had seen, he picked his way carefully down the rocky defile to the frozen bank of the stream, under the trees’ lowest branches; it was closer to climbing than walking.

A few times, he almost slipped, but he managed to steady himself with his dragon hand on a pillar of rock. Once he almost dropped his torch, which he was significantly more worrying; despite the soft, gentle fall of snow all around, Kija knew that it would be all too easy to get lost out here, and if he did the cold would kill him, dragon’s power or no.

Kija squinted into the gloom. Even with the torch, he couldn’t see very far ahead of him, and the fingers of his left hand were beginning to grow numb with cold.

The thought of turning back was beginning to cross his mind - out here, it was easy to doubt what he had seen in the cave, to dismiss it as a dream as he had slipped half to sleep while watching - when he saw it again: that flash of white, a little way ahead of him. He almost missed it; it was heading into the trees, which were growing thicker on either side as the gulley grew even narrower and steeper.

And - yes - there is was again; Kija caught his breath as his better glimpse confirmed what he had thought before. A young woman, not much older than Yona, but with white hair down to her waist that fluttered and danced behind her in the feathery snowfall.

Kija was still having a hard time seeing her, despite the torchlight, but he could make her out clearer than before now that he was closer. She was lightly dressed, in merely a plain white robe, with bare feet kicking up little flurries of snow on the forest floor. She was running, with her hands raised to cover her face, further down the valley. Where there were rocky outcrops and hillocks under the forest loam, she jumped over them, making Kija start with alarm as she nearly slipped, but then seemed to catch her balance, by some good luck that couldn’t last for much longer, he thought.

Kija frowned, forcing himself onwards despite the cold. Whatever danger she was fleeing, he knew he must do everything in his power to keep her safe.

*

Shin-ah was awoken by a sound, echoing strangely in his dream. But he did not wake immediately, rising slowly from the depths of sleep.

By the time he was truly awake, all was still again. He sat up, looking around the cave; the fire had dimmed, and he tugged his fur around him, shivering a little as a cold draft came in from the snowy night outside. It was a few hours after midnight, Shin-ah knew by staring up through the roof ceiling of the cave and through the mountain itself, gaze piercing the thick snow clouds massing in the sky to the glimmering stars above. And that was odd, because Kija had promised that he would stay and watch all night.

But Kija was not in the cave.

Shin-ah frowned; he could feel the white glow of Kija’s presence, somewhere outside, a little way down the valley. What was he doing out there? Shin-ah sat up a little higher, turning his head to look in the direction he sensed Kija. He could see out of the cave and all the way down to the valley’s wooded floor, the frozen stream that plunged down into the gorge, the snowy trees blanketing the land with their heavy branches.

He looked down and down, cutting through dark and snow with his gaze, seeking Kija where the warm light in his mind told him he should find him. Further away that Shin-ah had expected, and moving fast down the hill. He didn’t understand, and felt a little prickle of fear run up his spine on his brother’s behalf.

When he finally saw Kija, his eyes widened in alarm.

There was someone else there too, someone - or something, perhaps - that Shin-ah did not understand, but did not like the look of one bit.

Quickly and silently, Shin-ah got up and pulled on his mask and fur, strapping his sword onto his back and pulling on his boots. What he had seen in the valley wouldn’t leave his mind, for one reason; it meant that Kija was surely in danger. And that simplified things; he knew that Kija would do the same for him.

Briefly, it occurred to him that he could wake the others, but he quickly put that thought aside; he was the one who was best for this. The others couldn’t move in total darkness, whereas the dark was where Shin-ah had his advantage. And it would just worry them unnecessarily. No; better to save Kija, bring him back and wake them then, once all were safe again.

As Shin-ah was turning to leave the cave though, he felt a soft weight land on his shoulder; he smiled a little under his mask - a habit he had gotten into these past months, with his new family who made so many expressions with their faces - and raised his fingers to touch Ao’s warm fur. She nuzzled at his cheek, the narrow strip of skin that his mask exposed. Well, maybe he could bring her with him. He had always worked best with Ao at his side, after all.

And with that, Shin-ah was slipping out into the snowy night.

Though Shin-ah had had little trouble locating Kija, he took longer than he had expected in actually reaching him. The snow was deep and it was slow going; he wished he could just run directly over it, but he sank down almost to the knee.

At last, under the forest’s canopy, he crossed paths with a similarly entrenched set of footsteps. He frowned, looking around for another set of prints. But the only ones he could find were those of a fox, the lightest impressions on the very surface of the snow.

Shin-ah gritted his teeth under his mask and pressed on.

*

“Excuse me miss!” Kija shouted down the valley, his voice muffled by the snow-covered forest, falling eerily dead around him. The wind was picking up a little, as he began to follow. “Miss? Are you in need of aid?”

She actually did stop at that, coming to a perfect halt and turning to look at him, the breeze picking up and tugging her dress and her hair out behind her. He couldn’t make out her face, but there was something in her stance, the set of her shoulders; she was afraid. That was enough to confirm his suspicion; she must be running _from_ something.

Even as he had the thought, she was off again, turning tail like a hunted animal. Kija glanced anxiously up the hill, looking for pursuers; he would gladly use his strength to defend her, if only he could see who - or what - was in pursuit.

But he saw nothing. And he was losing sight of her, as she vanished into the dim forest night. He held his torch over the snow, hunting for some footprints, but it was no good; there were only his own boot-prints, churning up the snow, as well as the light footfall of some forest creature. But he didn’t have time to search any further, he knew. So without further thought, he flung himself on into the snowy night, in what he hoped was the same direction as the girl who was beyond the light of his torch now, a mere slip of a ghost in the snowy night.

When he finally caught up with her, he didn’t realise it at first; it was by a rocky stream bed. A place where - in any other season - the water would foam and tumble over rocks high above, splitting and dividing in bright rills as it fell into a deep, cold pool of still water. Not that Kija knew that; there was only a wide area of untouched snow where the pool would be, glimmering in the torchlight.

And on the other side of it, the girl he had followed. Kija squinted into the gloom; it was so dark under the eaves of the trees where she stood that he could barely make her out at all, but he could tell she was staring at him, in watchful silence.

Quickly he composed himself, raising his torch and his other hand, hoping she would not be too alarmed by the sight of his dragon’s claws. “Ah! Greetings, miss. You seem to be in trouble… is there anything I can do to help?”

No answer; he wondered if she had heard, for she stood quite still, bare feet buried to the ankles in snow. She must be half-frozen, poor girl, he thought, yet she seemed strangely untroubled by the cold.

“Please, Miss!” said Kija. “Let me escort you to safety. My companions and I have a camp a little way up the valley… there is a fire where you can get warm, and in the morning we can take you… wherever you want to go…” he tailed off when she still did not react, changing tack. “Miss, if there is something you fear, know that… I bear the ancient power of Hakuryuu and I can defend you from any that would do you harm!” His teeth were chattering a little now, but he managed to get the words out, holding his torch and his dragon hand higher, proudly.

This time he was certain that the girl had heard him, for she tilted her head to one side, seeming to consider him. He could make out her face now, and it confirmed what he had started to suspect; she was definitely not one of his own people, despite what he had initially assumed from her almost pearlescent white hair. Besides, Kija knew the name and face - and in many cases the ancestry - of everyone in Hakuryuu village; it was his duty to do so. And this girl was none of them. He frowned, confused. He hadn’t heard that there were more people than his own in the world with hair as white as winter snow.

He squinted harder through the snow, which was falling more heavily now, the flakes growing larger and drifting down like scattered feathers. A snowflake fell in his eye, making him blink it off his lashes.

But as he looked back he frowned; in just the time it took to blink, that brief moment while his eyes were closed, the girl had disappeared. Kija stared around, wondering whether the cold had made him see some sort of apparition, or a trick of the torchlight. But no; she _had_ been there, he was sure of it, and now she wasn’t.

He turned in a full circle, a little disturbed. The snow was still coming down all around, maybe that was it… he nearly tripped on a root buried under snow, just managing to keep his torch in his other hand as he flung out his dragon hand to steady himself. He gritted his teeth. If he was having trouble out here, then he could only imagine what the poor girl he had seen was going through.

He turned again, opening his mouth to call out, when something pale and swift caught the corner of his vision. He whipped around, an anxious, irrational fear crawling up his back now, as insidious as the cold.

“Did you come to find me?”

A voice like the soft snapping of dry twigs in the forest, quiet but close. Kija let out a small shriek of alarm, as he came suddenly face to face with the girl he had seen before; he had neither seen nor heard her approach. It was a moment before he could collect himself, his mouth gaping in a rather undignified fashion, he was sure. But he drew himself up; he was still here to help, to do anything he could to protect and serve, as was his duty.

Yet when he stared back into her eyes, he found his mouth dry, words sticking in his throat. A sharp face, painted with fear and desperation. Eyes shining with… hope, perhaps?

_Or was it something else entirely?_

“Y-yes” Kija said, regaining his composure a little. “Yes! I came to help you, Miss!”

She smiled a little at the edge of her mouth, her face a mass of dancing shadows in the light of the torch. “Oh!” she said, drawing closer to him. Quick as that, her hand was on his chest, over his heart, his fast breaths misting the air between them. Kija swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable for reasons he couldn’t quite put a name to, but which reminded him all the times his Granny had foisted potential marriage prospects on him, back in the village.

“Thank you… my saviour! What can I do to… repay you…?” Her hand went around his on the handle of the torch, attention lingering with interest on his scales, before she looked back at his face, her eyes roaming all over him. She smiled, tentative, her eyes looking up to meet his. Kija couldn’t tell what colour they were; in the firelight they looked dark, but for the briefest instant he thought he caught a hint of red. But a moment later he was almost certain he’d imagined it.

Kija licked his lips, inexplicably anxious. “Uh…” he said, “I can… lead you back up through the forest, to my companions…? We have warm clothes, blankets and food and in the morning we can show you on your way to wherever you - ”

“Oh… but I’d much rather stay with you…” she said, her voice dropping to a purr, that - was it his imagination? - sounded almost like some sort of seduction. Not that Kija had ever been good at identifying such things. As to why someone would waste their time with that out here in the cold of the forest night, Kija could hardly imagine. He hardly imagined this was ordinary behaviour, but one never could tell with these things.

“Um…” he eased his arm out from her grip, which was surprisingly strong, he realised. Again, he caught that flash of red in her eyes. Surely an optical illusion of some sort, he thought. Maybe the cold really was making his mind play tricks on him. “No” he all but squeaked, extricating himself at the last moment as she tried to back him up against a tree. “No, no, I’m afraid that’s a bad idea… very impractical…”

“Oh. You would really deny me something so simple?” She looked almost hurt, he thought. He wondered if he could just pick her up and carry her to safety; it would be terribly discourteous - and Jae-ha would never let him live it down - but perhaps it would save them both.

“Unfortunately I must” said Kija, as polite and regretful as he could manage with his teeth beginning to chatter. “Come, I can make it up to you…”

Her eyes lit, flashing in the torch brightness with something almost like triumph. A moment later though, the sweet smile was back to playing about her lips. “Oh! You can? Will you tell me how?”

“Well, ah, we have food back at the camp. Hot soup. My friend Yoon is an excellent cook, and we can all have some hot soup, and…”

She licked her lips, pink tongue darting. “Well… I am _hungry_ …”

“Ah… quite” said Kija, wondering if he was supposed to read something into that. But coming up with nothing, he offered her his arm. “Now. Shall we…?”

The girl didn’t take his arm, but laughed a little, rolled her eyes. “Oh, well I suppose I’ll have do this the hard way.”

And with that - bizarrely - she simply _disappeared_ , in a flurry of snow. Kija looked around doubtfully. “Um…? Miss?”

A moment later, he heard a strange sound. A laugh, he realised, echoing all around him, making a shiver run up the back of his neck. A voice rang out, like the voice of the girl he had met, and yet terribly, inhumanly unlike.

“Ah! Please, if I’ve offended you then - ”

But Kija never finished his sentence, for then several things happened in quick succession.

First, there was a blow to Kija’s back, a sharp force that caught him by surprise, making him lose his balance and fall forwards. Pain bloomed in his ankle as it rolled too far, as he fell over another buried tree root, dropping to one knee as his arms whirled, cutting great gashes in the trunk of a tree with his claws as he struggled to stay upright. He had dropped the torch though, he realised with a flash of dread, hearing its hiss as it fell to the snow, plunging the forest into total darkness. 

But just before its light faded to nothing, he thought he saw a white flash again, something like… fur? Sharp teeth, an animal smile stretching too wide. Then there was utter and total darkness as he knelt in the snow, his ankle already beginning to throb. Desperately, he twisted his body in the darkness, trying to free himself as fear clawing its way up his throat as the snow whispered down around him.

“What - ” Kija gasped. But that was all he had time for, as a moment later there was a crushing blow from behind, to the side of his head. Stars exploded behind his eyes, and the last thing he felt was falling, falling into the dark.

*

 _There_. Shin-ah skidded to a halt in the snow, Ao retreating into the fur around his neck. Shin-ah knew why; he could feel something too, some… _presence_ , that he didn’t understand, but that made the small hairs at the back of his neck stand on end, for reasons that had nothing to do with the icy wind that was beginning to rise even as he watched.

For there was Kija, lying spread-eagled on his back in the snow. Anyone else but Shin-ah might have missed him, for he was as ever dressed all in white, his body half sunk into a deep drift. But Shin-ah saw him; he saw the dropped torch on the ground, that had melted a little gap in the snow to the frozen ground below, before it had fizzled to nothing. He saw the wind blowing Kija’s hair across his face, white blending with the snow. He saw spots of scarlet blood against the white, from a dark wound on his forehead, blood congealing there.

He saw the figure standing over Kija, and he caught his breath. A fox with nine tales, fur an ethereal white, brighter than the snow. As Shin-ah approached - silent though he was - its head darted up with preternatural speed and awareness, disquietingly blood red and hungry eyes meeting his through his mask. It rolled back its lips as he approached, exposing glittering teeth poised over Kija’s throat, just a little too sharp to be natural.

Shin-ah saw all this, but he also saw - with relief - that Kija was still alive, heart beating under his skin. Albeit weakly, but the fluttering rise and fall of his chest, the little puffs of breath steaming in the frigid air that showed there was still hope.

Before Shin-ah could react though, the fox snarled, bearing its teeth. Then a moment later, it spoke with a surprisingly human voice. The voice of a young girl, specifically, though tinged with a strange inflection and a hit of a growl that must surely be animal in origin.

“Go away, dragon child. Let me feast on his blood while he’s still warm.” The creature grinned. “Unless you want me to drink yours too!” It licked its lips, laughing playfully. “Or your little squirrel friend! Tasty, tasty…”

Shin-ah gritted his teeth, drawing his sword. “N-no!” he said, trying to raise his voice above a whisper. “My… my brother!” he indicated Kija. “Leave him alone!”

“No!” snickered the fox. It nosed at Kija’s dragon hand with some interest. “This one’s blood… rich and good. Spirits! Old magic, and memory!” It licked its lips. “Memory’s good. Makes me warm, in this cold. Better than just any lost dolt-boy in fallen in love with a pretty girl in no time. Warm and good to keep me alive, makes me strong… yours too! And there’s more of you, back in your nest!” it started sniffing the air again, eyes going brighter, a drop of saliva hanging from its mouth at the prospect of blood.

Shin-ah felt a flicker of nervousness. He didn’t want to be forced to use his power on a creature who was just trying to survive, but at this rate, he might have to. Not that he even knew if it would work; he didn’t know, but he thought somehow that this was a being that was only corporeal so far as it wanted to be.

Still though. He drew his sword, just in case.

The fox creature laughed at the sight, throwing back its head with a cackle that was almost human, yet far too wild, a sound that belonged in stories of monsters meant to scare children. “Oh! You want to protect him, dragon boy?” The fox licked its lips. “Well, you know… they always taste better when they’re loved. Makes the blood taste different, you know? Warmer, warmer! Enough to keep me alive in the cold cold night!” the fox grinned, and in a flash, it had swept its nine bushy tails across its body and disappeared. 

Shin-ah blinked for a moment, before jumping back a little; for an instant later, the fox had materialised again, close up in front of him. 

Except it was no longer a fox, but a willowy girl with white hair, and bare feet. Her eyes were as red as the fox’s had been, and when she grinned, her teeth were too sharp to be human. “Unless you’d like to save him” she said, her voice throaty and dry, with an odd singsong intonation. She placed a finger on his mask, tilting her head. “You. You’re loved by many too, but…” her eyes widened and her mouth went round in mock shock. “Oh! It wasn’t always so, was it?” she grinned, pushing his sword aside with a single fingertip on the flat part of the blade. “Little monster child, always left out in the cold all alone.” She giggled. “Me too! We’re just alike!” she put the finger to her chin. “I’ll still drink your blood though. Got to stay warm, warm in the cold!”

Shin-ah narrowed his eyes, feeling the beat of his heart in fear, the pressure behind his eyes that meant the dragon behind them wanted to awaken, to consume and destroy, leaving him paralysed in his own head.

No, he realised; even if he wanted to use his power now, he didn’t have that option. Paralysed and alone in the snow, he would surely die, and Kija would too with no one to get him to safety. They couldn’t signal the others; they would never come in time.

Shin-ah gritted his teeth. His power was never meant to be used alone, but alone had been what he had had, for so long. Until he met Yona, and the others who were his family now. This time though, he didn’t even have that as an option to fall back on.

He would have to think of something else. He tried to think as the girl with the too-sharp teeth came closer, the cold beginning to truly bite at his fingers, turning them numb on the leather-wrapped hilt of his sword.  At least she had left Kija alone for the moment, he thought, apparently distracted by playing with Shin-ah. That might give him some sort of advantage, or buy time at least.

He didn’t know. It was hard to think; the cold was making it hard to think, as the wind picked up even further, tugging at the warm fur he wore.

At least he had that; even just the presence of that fur comforted him. He remembered - very vaguely - the day he had first been bundled up in it - Ao had been hunting, had brought back rabbits, skinned them and cleaned them, and later stitched the furs together with care. Wrapped the tiny child in them, against the cold of a winter night not so different from this one.

The girl - no, the fox, the spirit, whatever she was - was close to him now, so he could feel her fingers gripping his arm. She was very very cold; he could feel her touch even through layers of clothes, her fingers gripping his arm like an iron trap, though they looked for all the world like the soft, delicate hands of an inhabitant of one of the grand castles of the stories her had heard. Like Yona’s probably had looked, he imagined, before she had had to flee her home. But this girl was in no other way like Yona. Her eyes were a dark red, shining with hunger as she pulled herself close up to his face, her nose nearly touching the bottom of his mask with a sudden fierce curiosity.

“You’re not scared” said the girl. She did not look so guarded now, only thoughtful. “You’re no fun.” Her head tilted again, eyes lighting up as they darted to Ao, who was peering out from the depths of Shin-ah’s hood. “Your squirrel is cute! Can I eat her?”

Shin-ah bared his teeth, holding his sword on guard as Ao squeaked, burrowed back into his fur. “No!”

The girl pouted, and snickered. “Oh, well, maybe I’ll eat you” she said, inclining her head. “You’re still more fun than him.” She gestured with her head back at Kija, still lying on the ground. She narrowed her eyes, Shin-ah. “You’re like me, under there.” She poked his mask with a finger, apparently unconcerned by the sword. “Dragon’s child. Demon eyes. Monster eyes. Can you let me see before I eat you?”

Shin-ah drew back. 

He swallowed; he was sure he was supposed to be scared - and he was, his hands trembling with it worse than the effect of the cold - but from behind his mask, he suddenly saw something else in those red eyes. That hunger, that dancing light… it wasn’t only for blood.

“You’re… alone!” Shin-ah only barely heard himself whisper, his breath puffing out in warm clouds, a grim reminder that he did not have unlimited time to spend out here. And Kija had even less, probably. Still, though his words had been so quiet - just a passing thought really - the girl seemed to hear well enough, though Shin-ah was sure that any ordinary human would not have made them out. She pulled herself back a little, and that emboldened him, and he pressed on. “Your… family?”

She gritted her teeth, shoulders tensing in way of an animal run up into a corner. He extended a hand to try to placate her. “Where…?”

She frowned, teeth still bared, batting away his hand and snarling. “Don’t have any family. Not anymore.”

“What… happened?”

She hissed. “Why should I tell you, dragon child?”

“…..Maybe… I can help?”

She laughed, a high, unpleasant sound that held no joy. “They’re dead. Hunters came and killed them all. Not me, though… I ran off. My heart cried, poor dead thing. I lived too long, clinging on thousands winters. Grew old, and grew different.” She laughed again, wild and frightening. “Became something better. Strong. Something that doesn’t break, or feel the cold.”

Shin-ah nodded, thinking back. Sometimes, in the village, he had listened through the cave walls; he could always see where they were thinnest, so he always knew just where to put his ear if he wanted to hear a story. And he had heard them; he had listened whenever the loneliness pressed a little too close and cut at him a little too deeply. And he had heard stories; he would not have known that there were so many stories in the world and even then, he suspected that wasn’t nearly all of them.

He had heard stories of creatures like this, he remembered now; a fox with nine tails, that had lived a thousand years. Changing into a beautiful woman, to lure people to their deaths, to drink their blood.

“You’re like me” she said. “Monster, do you remember how good it felt to kill? Better than anything, anything else!”

But Shin-ah was shaking his head. “No. No, I’m not a monster. Not anymore.” It was a lot of words, more than he was used to speaking, but he had to force them out. Yona had taught him so much, after all. “And even though I lost my first family…” he thought of Ao, his heart contracting, “I’ve… I’ve got a new family now. That… made me better again. I’m better. You… you could… too…?”

She seemed to go stiff again, anger and derision in her eyes. But also something else; something like yearning.

Shin-ah cleared his throat, knowing he could only go forwards now. Not back. “If… if you let my brother live…” he said. “If you don’t kill… then… I can take you to them… you can be warm, and protected…”

Her eyes widened a little, but she made another hissing sound. “That’s a trap, dragon boy. They’ll just kill me, with steel and dragon’s powers. You’re all like that.”

“No!” Shin-ah took a deep breath, and - watching her very closely - sheathed his sword. The girl watched intently all the time, her eyes never leaving the blade until it was hidden. Then she watched as he made a signal to Ao, who scampered out of his fur - albeit reluctantly - and into his outer tunic, tucking herself inside.

That done, Shin-ah took off the fur, holding it out to the girl in front of him. “This… was given to me by someone who… was always warm…” that was almost true; Ao’s hands had been warm and rough, even in the winters when he had sometimes tucked Shin-ah up in his own cloak to keep the bite of the freezing night air at bay, his heartbeat steady and comforting against Shin-ah’s cheek. Always warm, except for that last day, when Ao had been so still, the warmth leaving his skin slowly, long after Shin-ah had watched his heart go still through his chest. But Shin-ah didn’t think that really counted. “It’s… good…soft…”

The girl’s red eyes were wide now; if there had been any light in the dark of the night, they would be shining, Shin-ah knew. He wondered what she was thinking, as she laid a very tentative hand on the rabbit fur, carefully stitched and mended, the snow landing unmelted on it with a bright glimmer. She stared up at Shin-ah a moment later; there was something vulnerable in her eyes, he saw. Something long, long buried, coming to the surface.

A moment later, she snatched the fur from him, and threw it around her shoulders. And for just a moment, a smile of purest happiness lit her face, making her look truly beautiful. No longer the slightly jarring, too-sharp smile edged with cruelty.

_Ao, he thought. Some part of him lives in the stitches. Maybe it reminds her of her own family._

He watched for a moment, entranced, as she spun in a circle in a flurry of snow.

But just then, something else happened.

He had been so concentrated on the two of them that he had noticed nothing until he heard it; a noise behind him, as though of several people running down the slope. Shin-ah whirled, to see several familiar figures with torches, running through the trees from the cave above. And then beside Shin-ah, a blur of motion, something dropping down through the forest canopy, throwing up a small cloud of snow as it cascaded to earth.

As the snow cleared, Jae-ha stood there, a glimmering dagger in one hand and a torch in the other. “You’ll have to forgive me” he said through gritted teeth. “Usually I would never dream of being this rude to a beautiful young lady. But you see… anyone who hurts my dragon brothers is not in my best graces…”

“Jae-ha…!” Shin-ah tried to shout out. But it was no good; a screech of anger and betrayal pierced the frozen air, and the girl gave Shin-ah one last desperate look before transforming into a fox in a flurry of white fur, to dart away immediately into the undergrowth.

Some time after that the others had reached him; he was dimly aware of Jae-ha lifting Kija onto his back. Shin-ah blinked behind his mask, trying to listen to the words Zeno was saying to him, as Ao nuzzled his cheek.

Even as Shin-ah allowed himself to be led back up the hill, starting the long journey back up to the cave, he felt tears in his eyes, already beginning to freeze on his cheeks.

*

“So then after I had been knocked out, I suppose that was when Shin-ah came to save me” Kija explained. “I don’t remember that part, though.” Kija winced as Yoon jostled his injured ankle slightly, as he was winding bandages around it. “Ow!”

“Oh, stop making a fuss” huffed Yoon, belying his exasperated tone by loosening the bandages a little, with a concerned look. “You’re lucky to be alive you know, Kija. Following a creature like that into the snow? Did no one ever tell you scary stories as a child? A five-year-old would know not to go running after a spirit-girl with no footprints on the coldest night of winter!”

“No one ever deliberately tried to frighten me, as the young Lord Hakuryuu” said Kija, rather stiffly. He raised his head with as much dignity as he could, in light of the fact that Zeno was beside his with a bowl of hot soup which he was feeding him with a spoon, while Kija was almost completely bundled in as many spare clothes as they could all lend him, to try to warm him back up. “I was quite safe in my village” he said, “and i could always defend myself against physical threat! So there was never any need to prepare for such a circumstance!”

Zeno patted Kija genially on the top of the head. “Ah, no, the Lad wasn’t trying to insult Hakuryuu!” he reassured. “Zeno’s sure Hakuryuu was raised well, and would never, ever have gone off with any strange creatures he met in the woods without a good reason.” Zeno grinned mischievously, gesturing for Kija to open his mouth for another spoonful of soup. As he did, Ao on his other shoulder took the chance to pop a whole acorn into his open mouth, making him splutter in surprise, and making Zeno crack up laughing. “Aw! Hakuryuu’s cute, cute!”

“Except he _did_ go chasing after a creature he met in the woods” said Yoon through gritted teeth, exasperated. “That was so _stupid!_ He would have been eaten or frozen to death!”

“Maybe, if Shin-ah hadn’t been so brave and smart” interjected Yona. She leaned over, taking Kija’s hand in hers and looking into his eyes. “Kija, that was reckless, but I know you meant well. I’m just glad to have you back.” She turned to Shin-ah, who was sitting with his legs drawn up in the corner, curiously silent even by his usual standards. “Shin-ah, you’re a hero!”

“Yes” said Jae-ha, looking almost apologetic. “If I’d known you had that so well in hand, I would have thought twice before attacking a young lady, even if she was an evil spirit…”

“Droopy Eyes, I wouldn’t put it past you to be… into that” said Hak, cuffing the back of Jae-ha’s head, making him let out a yelp of protest, while Kija looked outraged, though he was beginning to smile again, Yoon noticed.

“Hak! Stop it!” Yona stifled a quiet laugh at their play fighting, then turned back to Shin-ah, taking his hand in hers. “But Jae-ha’s right, you did do well! That was quick thinking…” Yona frowned when she saw Shin-ah’s mouth twitch under his mask. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I got her to trust me” Shin-ah said, in a voice so low that it was almost impossible for Yoon to hear. “Then she… got scared.” He raised his head, turning so that he was looking out to the cave mouth; Yoon couldn’t see his face, but he had the impression that Shin-ah was searching, eyes seeking something far, far across the valley and the surrounding lands.

Seeking in vain, it seemed, for a moment later, Shin-ah turned away, looking down at his bunched hands. He seemed taken by surprise when Yona hugged him, fierce and warm. “You’re a hero, Shin-ah” said Yona. “You saved Kija, whatever else happened.”

“Yes, Shin-ah, you were just in time” said Kija, with a slightly abashed smile. “You did wonderfully, and I owe you all the thanks in the world.”

Shin-ah nodded. Yoon could not see behind his mask of course, but if he had been able to, he would have seen that Shin-ah’s brow was still creased with the smallest of frowns.

Later that night, the fire burned low and the snow still howled outside. Where before, it had been a gentle fall, now it truly was whipping itself up into a storm; Yoon was already making mental calculations to try to keep himself awake, adding up their supplies until the weather was good enough to travel again.

Still, his eyes were prickling with tiredness by the time a few hours had worn their way past. He was already wrapped in several blankets against the cold, and it would be all too easy to simply lay his head down on his pack, to close his eyes for just a moment…

Some time later – not that he had much sense for how long - he was blurring back into wakefulness again.

What had woken him? He didn’t know. Not at first, anyway.

Then he heard the sound.

A quiet _pat pat_ of light feet on the stones near the entrance to the cave.

He looked, and his eyes widened in immediate horror. He wanted to cry out, but his voice seemed stuck, fear crowding up his throat as he remembered what Kija and Shin-ah had told him of their ordeal in the forest.

For at the cave entrance was a white fox, with nine tails raised behind it, watching him very carefully with brilliant red eyes.

He still wasn’t quite sure whether or not this was a dream, and what happened next did little to make him trust his senses. For even as Yoon watched, the fox began to transform before his eyes, tales swishing to cover it with white fur before it expanded and became a much taller figure; a young woman, with hair as white as her dress and the fur cloak she was wearing draped around her shoulders, and the same piercing red eyes as the fox had had.

She smiled a smile of too many teeth, then winked at him. Yoon frowned. Though her facial expressions did not correspond exactly to those of a human the gesture was quite clear; there had been something distinctly _conspiratorial_ in that grin.

Yoon simply stared, unable to make a sound even if he wanted to, as she walked over to where Shin-ah was sleeping. He frowned as her hands went to her shoulders.

And then Yoon gasped.

For she had reached up to take off the fur cloak she wore, and as she did, he realised he recognised the cloak.

It was Shin-ah’s; of course it was. In all the commotion, he hadn’t even noticed that Shin-ah had – for once – come back without it. As Yoon watched, the woman stood over Shin-ah, and laid the cloak gently over his sleeping form, with a combination of utter silence and something that verged on… well, if Yoon didn’t know better he might even call it _tenderness_.

She did not linger long, though. A moment later, she had straightened up, and turned back to look at him, raising a finger to her lips, with were quirked in a grin.

Before he could say anything at all, she had transformed back into a fox in a blur of white fur, and was darting back out of the cave mouth.

And just as the fox crossed the threshold into the snowy night, Yoon saw something else; a flurry of motion, pale shapes moving almost too quickly for him to tell them apart in white blur of snow outside.

But he knew what he had seen; four white foxes, the spirit-fox joining them, falling into step. A family, he knew without understanding how. A family new-found, running together and slipping away into the winter night to disappear into the falling snow.

**Author's Note:**

> The nine-tailed fox who turns into a young woman to drink the blood of unsuspecting men is based on the [Kumiho](http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/korean/articles.html), from Korean folktales. Though I did change some of the details and also made her sliiiiightly less malevolent than maybe they would normally be portrayed. *shrugs* Maybe Shin-ah is just That Much Of A Cinnamon Roll, you decide…


End file.
